AUVSI NE Unmanned Maritime Vehicles Conference

AUVSI New England Chapter In Coordination with the Naval War College's "Unmanned Systems" course

Announces the Inaugural Unmanned Maritime Conference November 6-7 2012 at the Naval War College, Newport, RI.

Keynote - Captain Duane Ashton, US Navy Captain Ashton was selected as Major Program Manager for the Navy’s Unmanned Maritime System Program Office, PMS 406 within the Program Executive Office Littoral Combat Ship (PEO LCS) portfolio. Prior to this, Captain Ashton began his Acquisition Corps Professional tour as a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Manager in both the Strategic Technology Office and Defense Sciences Office.

This presentation discusses current U.S. and E.U. initiatives for proposed Domestic and International Regulations as well as the potential impact of U.S ratification of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) on unmanned undersea vehicle systems. These proposed regulatory efforts will impact the entire unmanned undersea systems industry and its clientele profoundly, have the potential to prohibitively restrict the exploitation of undersea resources, and have immediate and stultifying effects on military requirements and attendant design considerations. It is imperative that both the U.S. Navy and U.S. industry be cognizant of these initiatives and become actively involved nowin the process to prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate situation that caused tremendous additional costs and delays in fielding of unmanned air systems due to FAA regulations.